X
  • 2017
  • TV-14
  • 1 h 51 m
  • 2017
  • TV-14
  • 1 h 51 m

Summary In the midst of the Egyptian Arab Spring, Bassem Youssef makes a decision that’s every mother’s worst nightmare… He leaves his job as a heart surgeon to become a full-time comedian. Dubbed, “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” Bassem creates the satirical show, Al Bernameg. The weekly program quickly becomes the most viewed television program in ...

Directed By: Sara Taksler

Written By: Sara Taksler

  • 2017
  • TV-14
  • 1 h 51 m
  • 2017
  • TV-14
  • 1 h 51 m

Tickling Giants

Metascore Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
78
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Summary In the midst of the Egyptian Arab Spring, Bassem Youssef makes a decision that’s every mother’s worst nightmare… He leaves his job as a heart surgeon to become a full-time comedian. Dubbed, “The Egyptian Jon Stewart,” Bassem creates the satirical show, Al Bernameg. The weekly program quickly becomes the most viewed television program in ...

Directed By: Sara Taksler

Written By: Sara Taksler

Where to Watch

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
78
100% Positive
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 11 Critic Reviews
78
100% Positive
11 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
90
Mar 30, 2017
Tickling Giants is a terrific movie that leaves you cherishing (a little more) the freedom we have, and holding in contempt (a little more) those who would compromise it. Mostly, the movie makes you understand how every society — and ours more than ever — needs people like Bassem Youssef to demonstrate that laughter will always be one of the essential ways to keep power in check.
By Owen Gleiberman FULL REVIEW
80
Apr 7, 2017
Tickling Giants surprises us on several levels. It reveals Egypt’s familiar Arab Spring experience through a lens, that of satiric comedy, which is very different from the way we usually see it. And it has the personal element of Youssef’s involving story, showing what can happen when your dreams come true to a completely unexpected extent.
By Kenneth Turan FULL REVIEW
80
Mar 30, 2017
Youssef himself with his crooked smile and exuberant enthusiasm comes across as someone who in a normal state of affairs would be just another amiably slick joker. But in this context he takes on the bravery and the bearing of a hero.
By John Bleasdale FULL REVIEW
80
Mar 15, 2017
Tickling Giants shows how a window of freedom and hope can unleash surges of creativity, like the improbable overnight success of a surgeon satirist.
By David D'Arcy FULL REVIEW
75
Mar 23, 2017
Entertaining yet somber documentary.
FULL REVIEW
75
Mar 15, 2017
The toughest thing about watching ‘Giants’ is the fear of inevitable, the fear that all of this could easily come crashing down, with Youssef displaying a thorough lack of respect for a government he’s long lost faith in, via a program that will certainly violate the country’s censorship laws.
FULL REVIEW
70
Mar 15, 2017
Tickling Giants provides a comprehensive examination of Youssef’s career highs and lows while providing a vivid personal portrait of its subject whose cheerfulness and resolve began to wither in the face of constant threats to himself and his family.
By Frank Scheck FULL REVIEW

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Details

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Production Company Hurwitz Creative, Sarkasmos Productions
Release Date Mar 15, 2017
Duration 1 h 51 m
Rating TV-14
Genres
Website http://ticklinggiants.com/
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Awards

Cinema for Peace Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Tribeca Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Stockholm Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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